Monday, May 21, 2012

Project Life - Printing out those printables

This week I used a lot of printables. I have been collecting and downloading free files from across the internet for a while. Check out my free printables board on Pinterest for the links I have collected. I download a lot more than I use. This is the printable I used this week. They are intended to be used as greeting cards I think, but I just love the clementine colors. I printed them on textured cardstock for a different feel and look than my core kit. I also got totally sucked in by Geralyn's digi shoppe and used lots of different cards here. My favorites are the sayings and geometric sets [no affiliation, I just like them].

Most of the time these files just languish on my hard drive. A few little things helped me this week.

Print them out ahead of time.

Most printables are formatted to be printed on 8.5x11 paper. If the cards are individual files, I use picasa to make an 8x9 grid collage and they sort of fall into place on their own. Some files are 2.9x4, so then I use 8x8.7 in. If you don't have PSE or are new to Picasa (it's free!), check out this great tutorial on making collages.

Print out on textured or dotted cardstock. I mostly use bright white, but I also like the look of light kraft too. I just bought a big pack of cardstock from target that is 8.5x11. It isn't textured however.

Spend a little time cutting them out. I like being able to quickly flip through a deck of cards. Plus, you can fit them in empty slots from your core kit box.

Print double sided. You can see how more cards look printed out in person and feel like you are conserving cardstock (yes, I have hoarding tendencies and trying to work through them. Tell me I'm not the only one?)

Personalize them with stamps after printing. I am much more likely to use something that feels unique. Here I just stamped Avi's name on one card. Some of them I have just added a herringbone stamp in a coordinating color or a little phrase here and there. These new Studio Calico stamps are getting used a lot.

Pretty simple. A couple random pictures here and there. I wrote about our trip to the museum and seeing eggs hatch. I used dear lizzy aqua foam thickers for a soft and pretty title. We also dressed Nandini up like a princess and Avi painted her face. Worthy of a glittery N on the card. The grainy black and white photo is from the 'photobooth' at the children's museum. I probably have hundreds of these, but this is the first time I found a spot for it in the album.
Of course lots of washi, a fun way to make an airmail card. Actually, the back of a card I used last week (totally thrifty, right?). I also love my new red hearts washi.
Wednesday morning Avi's school had a mother's breakfast. The painted tissue box gift included a picture of him making it on the front. Just what I wanted. Love using wood, like these wood buttons from Prima. A little thicker and heavier than wood veneers.

The quoted card is a printable from Creative Bubble. The first quote refers to Avinash's daily struggle with Ryan about not drinking the bath water. I gave him some clean water in a cup while he was in there and he didn't stop talking about the incident all week. The second quote is one of his three bear's story retellings. He always loves to figure out which character each one of us in fairy tales.

And, I ended up including an instagram of the target Shops signs. That card is the clementine free printable, with a martha label sticker and wood veneer bicycle from Studio Calico (and back in stock finally!).

A random picture of me and Nandini at the top. Elle's studio flag and Amy Tangerine fabric sticker.
Instagram collage next to that. How awesome is that grey and yellow striped paper? I got it for 70% off in the dollar spot at Target in a stationery notes pack. Score! Check it out next time you're there, it probably is not that hot an item with the general public, but I love it. Embossed my SC instagram stamp over it with another wooden prima button.
The bottom row is all from a birthday party this weekend. Another Creative Bubble card. I added a wood veneer asterisk to go with the shapes on the card. Love the clear look of total happiness Nandini has on her face here. All it takes is one half-opened Starburst apparently.

>>Details is another creative bubble shoppe card. I love those geometric triangles. Glad that I can use them again and again as many times as I want. Just enough color and just enough white space to leave room for journaling and washi. Wrote about our trip to Austin. At one point we actually toasted to healthy babies, friendship and scrapbooking. Thinking that quote might deserve a layout of it's own.

Glued on some wood veneer stars as a continuation of the dandelion seeds blowing away in the wind. These stars are back in stock too. Probably one of my favorite embellishments of all time. Debating about how many more packs to buy. I put a fabric letter A on a martha shipping tag for Avinash (and to balance the N on the facing page....maybe silly since he already had a quote card.) The paper is new basic grey PB&J line. Think I'll use the same paper for our Japan Family Day outing yesterday too. It is really pretty, but very busy, so a little easier to use in small doses like this. I had one extra instagram of me and Nandini so I just stuck it in between these two pockets. A little off perhaps...oh well.

This is an awesome. Take advantage of it if you can. Apparently Hambly is going out of business, so I want to stock up. I also got a bunch of these cute little chevron bags. Use code 85GRMH for free shipping on orders of $50 or more. Also, the sale has been extended through 5/25 now, yay!!

Linked up with The Mom Creative for Project Life Tuesday. The PL kit I am using is the Clementine kit.
Thank you so much to everyone in this wonderful community. I love all
the feedback and looking at everything people do each week. It
definitely keeps me motivated. And, please, link me up to any of your
inspiring pages this week as well in the comments!